US stock index futures fell Thursday as uncertainty around a potential trade deal between the United States and China overshadowed strong earnings reports from Apple and Facebook.
Chinese officials have doubts about whether it is possible to reach a comprehensive long-term trade deal with Washington and President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported earlier in the day, citing unnamed sources.
Hopes of a possible trade deal and an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve have helped the benchmark S&P 500 hit a record high earlier this week.
The US central bank lowered borrowing costs for the third time this year Wednesday to help sustain domestic growth despite a slowdown in other parts of the world, but signaled there would be no further reductions unless the economy takes a turn for the worse.
Another bright spot has been the third-quarter earnings season, which has been largely better than expected so far.
Apple rose 2.3 percent in premarket trading after the iPhone maker forecast sales for the holiday shopping quarter ahead of expectations.
Facebook jumped 4.6 percent after reporting an uptick in users in lucrative markets and its third straight rise in quarterly sales growth.
Twitter dropped 1.8 percent after the company said it will ban political advertising on its platform next month.